Banks are delaying plans to offload part of a $15 billion loan to fund a data center tied to Anthropic PBC in Texas, after the state put a hold on new projects while assessing risks to its power grid.

The bond offering delay, which comes as Anthropic is investing heavily on computing infrastructure ahead of its massive initial public offering, would leave the banks holding the debt on their balance sheet longer than they originally planned.

Lenders, led by Morgan Stanley, have already lined up around $15 billion to finance construction of the data center in Hubbard, near Waco, Texas. The banks had hoped to sell $5 billion to $7 billion to high-yield bond investors to refinance part of that loan in September, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The sales may now be staggered over the next year, one of the people said.

Nexus Data Centers is developing the project, which is leased to Anthropic and backed by Alphabet Inc’s. Google. The proliferation of data centers has become a hot issue ahead of the US midterm elections on Nov. 3, sparking growing public discontent over rising electricity bills and strains on power and water resources. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the moratorium will stay in place until the state completes its review.

The original debt package included a $14.2 billion one-year loan arranged by Citigroup Inc., Intesa Sanpaolo, Mizuho Financial Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Royal Bank of Canada, and Banco Santander SA, said the people who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public.

Some banks in the group, including Santander, are seeking to bring other lenders into the deal, some of the people said.

Each bank committed about $2 billion for that loan for a year, with an option to be renewed twice for a maximum of one more year, the people said. The loan has a short maturity typical of so-called bridge financings where banks provide commitments ahead of plans to issue longer-term debt. But in this case the loan has been funded, meaning lenders have disbursed the funds.

Representatives for Anthropic, Google, Citi, Santander and MUFG declined to comment. Nexus Data Centers and the other banks involved in the deal didn’t immediately comment.

The debt offering had already received ratings in the mid-BB area by some major rating agencies, one of the people said. The package also included a $1.4 billion five-year revolving credit facility, with each bank providing about $200 million, the people said.

The financing is one of a string of massive data-center debt packages that have been fueling the AI buildout. Many of these deals have moved from banks to the bond market, as lenders seek to make room for the voracious demand for capital coming from the AI infrastructure boom.

The debt binge is now creating indigestion in credit markets as investors are souring on rising borrowing costs and fear of more supply to come. The average risk-premium for US high-yield bonds has climbed to a 17-month high this month, while primary markets have seen a spate of pulled deals in recent weeks.